


Shelter

by artem_ace



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cute, M/M, lmao idk what im doing pls love me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-08-28 19:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8459821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artem_ace/pseuds/artem_ace
Summary: Jason goes into high school clueless, friendless, and without an ounce of an idea of what he wants out of life. While campaigning for his robotics club, he meets local loner, Percy Jackson. This fic will show the progression of their relationship throughout their time in school, from strangers, to friends, to possible lovers. hopefully slow build. it’s the first chapter so we’ll see where this goes.





	1. Jason Tries Freshman Year

**Author's Note:**

> lol so im just throwing this at u. sorry for being gone for like a year. enjoy? (follow me on tumblr artem-ace.tumblr.com)

If you asked Percy Jackson when everything started, he would have told you the summer after sophomore year. It was always summer for the two of them. 

The heat of the concrete pavement and the way the overwhelming saturated blue of the sky burned into his retinas did something to the chemistry of his brain. Summers always felt untouchable, like time didn’t work the way it did during the school year. In school, his eyes would flicker from his test to the clock on the wall, praying to anyone listening to force his hand to write faster. Teachers and students and, on occasion, the very lost visiting parent, would all rush to get to class, or rush to lunch, or rush to the dean’s office. They were always rushing. In the summer, time was fluid. It was liquid the way honey was, slow and thick and sticky, and it was always full of Jason Grace. 

And then there was the lake. 

But this isn’t Percy Jackson’s story to tell. It’s Jason’s, and for him, everything started when he joined the _Cyberknights: Robotics and Chess Club_ at Oak Grove High. He’d never been passionate about robotics, but he and his best friend Leo had been part of the few kids at his middle school who kept the club alive, if only for the sake of their favorite teacher. 

Mr. Rossman was a thin man, with even thinner hair, save for the caterpillar of a mustache that graced his upper lip. He had a deep love for science that translated easily to the classroom, and while his passion marked him by most of his students as odd and eccentric, Jason found himself dedicating everything he had to the small underfunded robotics club to see more of it. Through their dedication, he and Leo had singlehandedly saved the club from going under in seventh grade, being the only two members to show up often enough to be able to operate the robot. They had lost the competition miserably, but sparked enough interest in the incoming students to ride out their last year in style, placing a respectable fourth in the statewide competition and bringing home a trophy. It was a small hunk of painted-gold plastic with “If You Had Fun You Won” engraved on it, but the pair had treated it like it was a thing of value. Together, along with Mr. Rossman, they had cleared a space for it on his bookshelf, a promise of more to come in the future. 

Oak Grove didn’t need promises; they had results. Large, bright trophies and medals lined the back wall of the Robotics and Chess room. Jason was astonished at the idea of an entire room dedicated to an after school club. The room was massive, and had square tables taking up half of it, works in progress already sitting atop them despite it only being the third day of school. On the walls that weren’t taken up by trophies of the team’s successes were calendars and white boards, detailed designs littering their surface in blue dry erase marker. Written in red was a countdown:  **52** days until battle. An upperclassman took a dirty rag and rubbed the number off, leaving a smear of red in its place. She uncapped her marker and wrote a shaky **51** , not bothering to clear the red smudge. 

This room wasn’t anything like he was used to. He sat down at an available chair and scanned the wall, looking for a motivational kitten poster. Every classroom had to have one right? But he still saw nothing but plans and goals for the committee, punctuated occasionally by posters reminding everyone to keep their workstations clean. Even though he knew it was unlikely, Jason couldn’t help but feel he was being stared at by everyone in the room. 

An itch was forming behind his knee. He scratched at it through his jeans. Then the meeting was called to order by the president. The president was nothing like Jason expected. He was tall and bulky-- built more like a linebacker than a guy who played with mechanics in his free time. The sleeves of his club shirt (Jason would order his when he got the money. He felt out of place in his baseball tee) were tight around his well-defined arms. He wore his jeans in the impossible way that Jason wished he could, well fitted without being obviously tight and accentuating all of his good points. Jason was intimidated, but couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to be that guy’s friend. He was just so  _ cool.  _

“Hey, you guys! Welcome to the Cyberknights!” A cheer sounded from the club members. “My name is Charles Beckendorf and I’m this year’s club president. Anything you need, you can talk to me. I’m going to start today by introducing you new recruits to my fellow knight leaders.” 

After introducing the officers of the club, Charles took a quick roll call of the names on the sign up sheet, then leapt into the story of how the Cyberknights came to be. 

Originally, the robotics club and the chess club were separate, as they usually are. But, three years ago, the principal signed a new football field into construction-- right where the arts building was. The robotics club was unaffected by this, because it was located in the biology room of the science building. The chess club, however, had been convening in one of the studio art rooms, and was forced to find another place to meet. Graciously, the robotics club offered a corner of their space to the wandering chess members, who were grateful for the help.

It was tense at first. The bio room had seemed to have had more than enough room when it was just robotics, but sharing with the chess club made it seem four times smaller. It wasn’t long before the pranks started. No one remembered who had started it. What they  _ did _ remember was that it ended with a robot that could beat half the team at chess, and reinvented both the teams forever. 

The team had taken first place at the competition that year, and that was only the beginning. Within days, they had made over dozens of papers, and received grants from various programs and kids were begging to apply. The following year came with another first place trophy and a new room, just for the purposes of robotics. Of course, the team extended their resources to the chess club, and the two became one, changing their respective names to something cool and geeky, and kind of super lame: The Cybernights! (Jason had a feeling it may have Charles who came up with the name.)

“This year marks the four year anniversary of our triumph. We haven’t lost a competition since then, and we don’t plan to this year either! Who’s with me?” Charles finished, flashing a winning grin. There was a round of applause, and a couple cheers from returning members, all excited to get to work. Their first event of the year was coming up soon and the knights had a lot of work to do, hence the countdown and the electrified buzz of tension in the room. 

“Yeah, yeah, we’re all excited to be here,” came a comment from a guy in a purple hoodie. Dakota Macfarlane sat on a counter next to one of the chess boards, holding a rook in one hand and a coffee in the other. With his fingers, he twirled the piece around, possibly to act as an outlet for his incessant fidgeting. He still moved restlessly though, his fingers tapping against his cup, and his feet silently kicking at the cupboard below him to an invisible beat. “But let’s get to the important shit: The Bake Sale.”

Dakota was the secretary, and only other member of the Knights who had been a part of the club during that first year. Both he and Charles Beckendorf had been freshman at the time, though he had been a chess member while Charles dealt with robotics. On one of the corkboards occupying the wall space there was a picture of the two of them, along with the other alumni of the club standing with the original robot that was the fruit of their collaboration. Jason had stared at it during orientation, running his fingers over the edges of the photo. It had been cut out of a local paper, the edges all jagged and frayed with the headline over top of it  _ “HIGH SCHOOL TEAM WINS COMPETITION WITH CHESS-PLAYING ROBOT.” _

In his coffee hand, Dakota now held a clipboard with a signup sheet for the bake sale. He took a few minutes to explain the sale (1. Sign up on this handy sheet, 2. Bake some shit, beg your momma to bake some shit, or buy some shit, 3. Make some fucking dough by selling in your timeslot) before turning the floor back over to the president. Charles ran over some more projects the club was working on, some goals for the upcoming year, and reiterated how excited he was for all the new recruits. As he spoke, the room was filled with a quiet energy and all eyes were on him. His dark eyes scanned the crowd, somehow both intimidating and inviting at the same time. 

Jason wanted to impress him. 

This is why, when the meeting was over, he gathered his things and waited for his turn to speak to Charles. When he finally got his attention, Charles gave him a wide grin and sat down on a nearby stool to become eye level with the freshman. 

“Jason, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jason said, surprised a guy as cool as Charles had bothered to learn his name. 

“It’s really nice to get some young blood in this club to carry on our legacy. Welcome, Jason.” As Charles spoke, Jason felt his throat dry and his face grow a little hot. “What can I do for you?”

Jason meant to say “I’m glad to be here and I would love to help the club by focusing my efforts to help the club by participating in the bake sale.” What he actually did was motion to the clipboard and mumble a quiet “Bake sale.” 

Charles seemed to understand though, and he gave Jason another stunning smile as he reached across the desk for the clipboard and attached pen. 

“Thanks, Charles,” Jason said. 

“Most people call me Beckendorf,” the president corrected. “Or just Beck.”

Jason was worried he messed up big time. “Sorry, Beck.” 

Beckendorf took his apology smoothly, just like the rest of him, and handed the board over with another smile. Jason signed his name messily and wrote “cookies - chocolate chip” in the box. That’d be easy enough right?

“Chocolate chip?” Beckendorf asked, looking over Jason’s arm. “Those are my favorite!” His arm brushed against Jason’s when he took the board back. 

“Really?”

“Yeah! My girlfriend surprises me with them sometimes.” Jason didn’t know why, but at the mention of Beckendorf’s girlfriend, his stomach dropped. But he was still continuing, excitedly talking about his girlfriend (her name was Silena, he found out), and her cookies. 

“Of course, they aren’t as good as my mom’s. No one’s could be. But her dad owns a chocolate store, so she uses this, like, fancy chocolate and they’re just--  _ wow,  _ you know?”

Jason didn’t know. He had never had a girlfriend to make him cookies. In truth, he can’t remember the last time he had homemade cookies, or if he had ever made some himself. He nodded though, and excused himself to go to class. He may not have a dad with a chocolate shop, a good recipe, or even the slightest knowledge on how to make cookies, but he was determined to make the best cookies Beck had ever had. 

 

* * *

 

Beckendorf never got the chance to taste Jason’s cookies. Not that Jason wanted him too; After three hours of work in the kitchen in the early A.M., Jason still felt his cookies had turned out mediocre at best. They weren’t burnt, but they had a lumpy texture that looked questionable and were drier than he expected. 

When he got to school that morning he had dropped them off in the robotics room, running into Dakota on his way out. The senior had two coffees this time, and groaned like a zombie from The Walking Dead when Jason bumped into him. Jason had considered stopping to apologize, but he was late for homeroom and something made him doubt Dakota would even remember the event later. 

Now he was at the sale and, much to his disappointment, there was no Beckendorf in sight. Instead he was paired with two juniors in the club, both more invested in the chess side. They talked amongst themselves while Jason called out to anyone passing by, offering “delicious baked goods for ridiculously low prices!” Yet another kid with headphones on rolled their eyes at him. 

“This isn’t working,” one of the juniors said, popping her gum. It was the girl he’d seen at that first meeting, the one who changed the number on the board. If the sheet was right, her name was Clarisse, and the other girl was… Silena Beauregard. Could this be Beck’s girlfriend?

The girl’s delicate shoulders rose when she sighed. “I hope Charlie’s not too disappointed in the turn out.” 

_ Charlie.  _ So this was her. Silena was beautiful, her dark hair curling perfectly at her collar, and her shocking blue eyes battling for attention with her perfect pink lips. Beckendorf was a lucky guy. He hated to think of him being disappointed, though. 

“I can try a more direct approached,” Jason offered. The two girls looked at him, seemingly surprised at him speaking up. He hadn’t said a word to them the whole time they’d been manning the table.

“What do you mean?” Silena asked him. Her necklace, a thin chain with a dainty “S” rested at the hollow of her throat. Jason wondered If Beckendorf had gotten it for her. 

“I mean, like,” Jason fumbled, “I guess I can like go talk to people directly? Instead of expecting them to come here?” 

He saw a kid in a hoodie at a table near their booth. He looked less intimidating than some of the other students. “Like, uh, that guy?” Jason pointed. 

Silena looked over, hesitantly. “I don’t know-”

“Let the kid do what he wants, ‘lena,” Clarisse interrupted. Jason waited for her to argue back, but Silena just shrugged and looked at him like  _ if-you-think-it’ll-work-go-for-it. _ Clarisse just stared at him. 

“You going or what, short stack?”

Jason gathered himself and strode over to the table. The kid looked up at him, the way one does when a stranger interrupts their meal, and Jason faltered a little. Then he thought of how much it would mean to Beck if he could sell everything at the table.

“Hello. My name is Jason Grace, and I am a member of the _Cyberknights: Robotics and Chess Club_ ,” he introduced. The guy just waited for him to finish, his sea green eyes disinterested. Jason tried not to get distracted by the way the kid’s messy hair fell in his face. Having had short-cropped hair for most of his life, Jason never understood the appeal of having your bangs tickling your nose all the time. Though he had to admit, some people worked the look better than others.

“As you can see, we can have a booth,” Jason pointed, “of baked goods for sale. If you would like to purchase one, I can give you the prices, or you can come up to the table to see them for yourself.” 

He wasn’t expecting the question that came next.

“Got anything blue?” Hoodie Guy asked folding his arms. It was a genuine question, if his crooked smile was anything to go by. Jason had to think about it. Did they have anything blue? He didn’t think so. 

“I don’t think we do.”

Hoodie Guy’s face fell a little but he shrugged it off. “No bigs. I don’t have money on me, anyway.” He said it nonchalantly, but Jason heard his stomach grumble. He looked down at the table for the first time and saw it was empty aside from some geometry notes and a blank sheet of paper. Unlike the dozens of other tables, his was void of a plastic tray, or brown bag lunch. Jason wondered if the guy was used to skipping lunch; he suspected it was true. 

While, normally, Jason wasn’t fond of any kind of profane language, he felt kind of like an ass for asking this kid for money. He probably wouldn’t waste his money on his brownies when he didn’t even buy lunch for himself. 

A thought occurred to Jason. 

“Do you like chocolate chip?”

Hoodie Guy exhaled. “Look, Jason, I’d love to help the club, but I really don’t-”

“No-- no, that’s not what I meant,” Jason interrupted. “Is it okay if I sit down?” He was already in the chair before the guy could nod.  _ Zzip.  _ He reached into his backpack and fished around for the tupperware he knew he had stored away in there. His fingers touched the familiar rubber lid.  _ Found it.  _ Jason narrowly avoided hitting his head on the table on the way up. 

He had cookies. Before he left for school that morning, he had tucked away a couple cookies in a container just in case he had a chance to gift them to Beckendorf. After meeting Silena he was a little discouraged in his ventures to impress him. There was no way Jason’s cookies could live up to hers. Instead he offered one to Hoodie Guy.

“It’s cool,” Jason said when Percy didn’t immediately take one. “I had extra. No charge.”

Hoodie Guy plucked a cookie from the container and nibbled on it. “Sorry if they’re no good. I’m new to the whole baking thing.”

“It’s wonderful,” the guy said. “I’m Percy, by the way,” he added through a mouthful of crumbs. “Percy Jackson.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Jason looked back at the booth. He should probably be working at the table with Clarisse and Silena, not offering free treats to the guy he’d just met. Percy was nice, though, and still eyeing the other two cookies still in the tupperware. 

“Take them,” Jason said, standing up and pushing the container across the table. Percy protested but Jason shook his head. 

“I gotta get back to work. Just return the container to me when you get the chance.”

“Okay. See you later, Jason.”

“Later, Percy.”

Freshman year was Jason’s only year in the _Cyberknights: Robotics and Chess Club_ at Oak Grove High School. After Beckendorf left, it just wasn’t as appealing. He never did care for robotics that much anyway. But Jason had to be grateful for that first bake sale-- after all it's what introduced him to Percy Jackson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not a chapter just an update for those following

hey guys, this isn't an update for Shelter. Sorry to disappoint.

I wrote a second chapter and hated how i was approaching the story. So, new plan: I'm going to plan this fic out properly instead of just writing as I go (which was how I intended to do it before) so that Shelter can be a well thought out and complete fic. I received some comments asking me to please continue this and not drop it like I've done with fics before. I'm not dropping this story, I'm just taking the time I need to do it right. I'll keep what I have up for now, but when I rewrite it will be a diff first chapter and such, and I'll delete this mess when I put that up. 

 

I'm in my first year of college/university rn so i;m stressed and busy af so idk when i;ll be able to actually write my ideas out for shelter, but in the mean time you can check out my other fics (which are old and kind of terrible but charming) ORRRR you can be super excited for an announcement:

 

Either late december or early january i will be uploading the first chapter of a fic I've been working on for a year and a half now. It's a roadtrip au featuring Jason, Percy, Piper, and Leo as main characters w an additional cast of Annabeth, Paul, and a blind dog named Peggy. main ship is Jercy but there's also gonna be some cute pipabeth moments and lots of friendship and drama and it's just great okay so look forward to that. Again, sorry for starting this fic and then immediately trying to take it back, I'm the worst ik.

 

anyway if you ever want to talk to me about hc or aus i have that i haven't had time to write hmu on my tumblr (artem-ace.tumblr.com) or leave a comment below. Stay Cool!!!

 

w love, 

artem ((


End file.
